School renamed as Barack Obama Middle School--good idea or bad?

I ran across an article this morning that reeked of BAD IDEA so much that I could not believe it was actually a real issue. Let's discuss it, shall we?

What: DISD school board trustee, Ron Price, wants to rename a school in Dallas "Barack Obama Middle School".

Why: "Overwhelmingly, the parents and the kids said we want Barack Obama and when you see those kids eyes, their eyes just started glowing, and even the parent's eyes were glowing just for the fact that their kid would one day go to the Barack Obama school," Price said.

When: Currently being debated now.

Response (PUT YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS ASIDE): I say absolutely not, stick to original name. For now.

"But why?" you ask, "Why not name it after our current president that has achieved so much for our country? Who has preached about hope and change, making a real difference, and changing the way things are done in DC?"

I'll tell you why. Because he's still preaching those things. Why is he still preaching those things? Because it's not even been a year since he was sworn in. Meaning? We barely know what he's done because he's barely had enough time to do anything! He's got more than 3 years left! Sure, he could follow through and become the amazing president that everyone has hoped for. He could also dig himself a hole deeper and deeper until he's barely able to breathe by the end of his term. Who's to say what will happen--which is the exact reason a school, much less anything, should be named after such a famous, public, figure.

Not convinced? Here are a few names of people that started off being known as positive, awesome people. We'll pretend schools decided to rename their schools after these people.

Michael Vick High School



















Tonya Harding Elementary



















O.J. Simpson Preparatory School



















Hitler Academy (a little extreme, yes, but hey, people liked him for a while over there in the beginning!) I'll spare you the picture of this mustached madman.

You get the idea. Obama will probably be an amazing president. But just in case he's not, hold off on changing the identity of anything until you're positive it will be a positive change for long after. You want as much positive association with your brand as possible and should stay away from anything that has the teeniest, tiniest bit of chance to label it as something negative.

Bottom line: When it comes to naming something after famous people--wait several, even decades in some cases, years before renaming.

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea

Get pregnant to get publicity, kinda.

If you keep up with celebrity gossip then you've heard that Kourtney Kardashian is preggers.

My guess is that she's been preggers for quite some time and only just now announced it. Why? Her new show, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, premiers on E! this Sunday.

What does that have to do with anything? Well let's see...

-Everyone knows Kim Kardashian. Kourtney and Khloe? Not so much. Until now, since the media is jumping all over the new addition to the Kardashian clan. Now people will want to find out more about Kourtney. And oh, convenience, they can start finding out more on Sunday.

-For a while there we were left wondering if Kourtney's crazy partying antics we've been seeing on the previews for the show resulted in babyville. Who wouldn't want to tune into a show to watch drama like that unfold?

-Kourtney only just now revealed that her boyfriend, Scott Disick, is the father. Who cares at this point? Peole are going to tune in anyway to see the drama around the baby news.


-On every website and TV channel that Kourtney's new announcement has been talked about, they also mention her new show. Hello free advertising. Just go to E!'s website--the feature story is Kourtney's news and her appearance on the Today Show.

So what have we learned? What's the common theme of each of these points? Get pregnant to get publicity.

(Octo-mom photo courtesy of Perezhilton.com)

Just kidding! Bottom line is the promotion of Kourtney's show.

It's a common PR tactic to use information like this and tie it into a feature/show/book/movie/appearance etc to bring in the mass publicity.

Just watch. Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami will bring in high ratings this Sunday. Maybe Kourtney's pregnancy was unplanned, but revealing it to the public was well planned.

Side note: Will Kourtney name her baby something that starts with a K? What's with that anyway?

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea

Google Gets Caffeinated

Caffeine [ka-feen, kaf-een, kaf-ee-in] noun, a white, crystalline, bitter alkaloid, usually derived from coffee or tea: used in medicine chiefly as a nervous system stimulant.

OR

Caffeine, noun, Google's improved search engine that provides speedy results and a larger index which results in excited, hyper behavior by the Googler.

While Microsoft's Bing has been generating buzz these past few months Google has jumped on the We're Better Than You bandwagon by creating an even better Google than they already have. Always one step ahead, aren't ya Google? That's why we like you.

Check out their blog which announces, "For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google's web search. It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits "under the hood" of Google's search engine, which means that most users won't notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we're opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback."

Here's what I like about this:

1. While Microsoft has been basking in the hype of Bing, Google rises to the challenge and begins work on making their genius work more genius. There's never an end limit with them.

2. Most users won't notice the difference with the updated version, meaning it's under the same brand as the current Google search engine. Users will simply notice faster and larger results. In sum, Google isn't looking for a ton of compliments and rewards, just customer satisfaction. (which will bring them rewards and compliments--sneaky, but smart)

3. They're asking for feedback from their own kind. Forget pretending they know all, they just want to make sure it works well, and if not, what changes to make. Again, customer satisfaction.

Google looks to be striking gold with Caffeine. And the name isn't too bad either. After all, who wouldn't become hyper and excited after finding endless results in less time?

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea

Top 5 List of Twitter Need-to-Knows

Everyone has heard of Twitter. Not everyone knows how it works. Here is a list of the Top 5 things you need to know if you're a person who's curious about using Twitter.

1. Show Twitter the love. When I say love, I mean the real thing. No passive aggressiveness, no fighting, no complaining, no yelling, no hating. Think of you and Twitter in an endless honeymoon stage. Spend hours learning as much as you can about Twitter. Become enthralled. Enthusiastic. Excited. Enlightened. The more time you spend with Twitter the more you'll understand about Twitter. In return, Twitter will give love back to you. See how that works? Who said relationships are hard?

2. Show your profile some love. Spend an hour or so showering Twitter with presents. Presents that come in the form of designing your personal Twitter page. Make sure one of those presents is a profile picture because otherwise you'll just make Twitter seem sketchy to everyone else. If you have trouble drawing stick figures than maybe consult one of your artistic friends who could help you out. There's always the Internet as well for those questions. And, Twitter of course. That's a good Tweet right there--"Anyone know how to easily create your own profile for Twitter?" And speaking of Tweets...

3. Filter your Twitter thoughts. It might seem really easy to quickly type a 140 character Tweet that you've just thought of. Well, hold that thought. Make sure it's one of your "I should write that down somewhere" thoughts and not one of your "Um...good story..." thoughts. Food, for instance, falls in the "Um...good story..." category. Unless you did something AMAZING with it, like build a workable desk out of apples or write a press release for Frito Lay using only potato ships shaped into words, then chances are no one cares about your food intake.

4. Channel your frustration into Twitter success. Don't get overwhelmed by your Tweet Deck constantly telling you every other second that 375637856378563 people have just updated their Twitter and there's no way you can read every single one. Half of those updates probably aren't even worth your while anyway. So. Focus on the ones that are. Then go back to those OFTEN. ReTweet those people. If they have blog they reference, follow it. Become a Twitter companion. The more REAL friends you have, the better your life is, right? And when life gets tough, you lean against those friends. So don't take your frustration out on Twitter.

5. Never underestimate your Twitter knowledge. You don't know a lot about Twitter. "Yes I do!" you exclaim, "I spend 4 hours on Twitter every day!" Well, while you're on Twitter, Twitter headquarters, who, by the way, is the top social media company in Fortune 100 companies, have put their thinking caps on to come up with even better ways to use Twitter. Make sure to check their links, pages, whatever else they offer on their site to see what they're up to. And don't forget to keep up on the web outside of Twitter. You don't want to become a Twitter addict, just a Twitter genius.

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea

Could middle school actually be fun??

Remember middle school? Try to dig it out of the drawer in your memory labeled "Let's Just Forget This Happened, ok?" Still foggy? Herein lies my point: middle school isn't much fun for most people. Awkward, acne, and attitude are a few words that come to mind on the subject.

However, there is at least ONE teacher, now published author, that tried to make it fun. More than just fun--a roller coaster ride of emotional fun.

Check out this interview in The Pittsburgh Examiner to get to know the coolest teacher around. Then, if you feel robbed of a middle school experience (the cool kind), check out his website for more info.

Happy schooling!

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea

DEbranding to INcrease brand awareness

Someone in the marketing department at corporate Starbucks must be having a good month. Only someone feeling creative, innovative, and unrestricted would be able to come up with adding booze to the menu, free ice cream giveaways, free pastries (only this morning!!), and now trial DEbranding a few of their stores.

Well, we say debranding, but my opinion (and Starbucks' too most likely--we're similar in genius thought) is that they are actually branding their name even more. How so? You've heard about Twitter, facebook, and other insanely popular social networking sites, right? They're allll about connecting people. Connecting people in similar areas, interests, markets, industries, businesses, ideas, opinions, and pretty much anything else you can connect about. Starbucks is simply applying the same strategy to a few of their Seattle locations--connecting with the locals and the nearby community.

If all goes according to plan, we'll soon be hearing how Starbucks cares SO much about their customers that they want to adapt their locations to their customers likings. They'll be known for catering to their customers, being unafraid to think outside of the box, and paving this new marketing road for others to follow.

Think it will work? Time will only tell. We'll give you an update when we hear of anything!

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea

Free Ice Cream!

We love free stuff. We love free stuff even MORE when it's in conjunction with social media. (It's all the rage, you know.) So we've got to give props to Starbucks and Unilever for offering 280,000 free pints of its new ice cream to facebook users.

Through July 19, you can visit Apps.facebook.com/starbucksicecream and try your luck. At the top of every hour, you will have a chance to give a pint of Starbucks ice cream to a friend or family member. Here's a TIP, download the app only a few minutes after the hour, or all 800 pints will already be gone. (We know, we tried it.) Although the promotion encourages participants to send the treat to friends, if you don't feel like sharing you can send the coupon to yourself... yeah, we're greedy too.

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea